Population: One attention-starved pit bull puppy with one-tenth the short-term memory of a goldfish, one 15-year old declawed cat that just wants to sleep off a catnip hangover, and you. Have a nice eternity!

Like its cousin the parrot, the cockatoo is a gifted mimic of other animals, able to reproduce not only sounds but also demonstrating a keen grasp of syntax. In this video, for example, a cockatoo is able, after only a brief exposure, to correctly respond with the phrase “Yeah, that’s what your mom said last night” in Pug.